Higher education institutions are investing heavily in SaaS modernization initiatives to improve operational efficiency, enhance the student experience, strengthen security, and reduce technical debt. Yet despite significant investments in technology, many institutions struggle to realize the full value of these transformations.
The reason is rarely the technology itself. More often, success or failure hinges on something less tangible but far more influential: adoption. While project teams focus on timelines, integrations, testing, and training, successful modernization also requires people across the institution to adopt new processes, new ways of working, and often a new mindset. Technology can be deployed in months. Organizational adoption requires leadership.
The Sponsor's Role Has Evolved
Historically, executive sponsors were viewed as project approvers. They secured funding, attended steering committee meetings, and stepped in when major decisions were required.
However, in our experience as a Change Management Specialist, we argue that model is no longer sufficient.
Today's SaaS transformations often require institutions to move away from highly customized processes to embrace standardized practices that not only align with institutional priorities but also ensure your people are levering the technology to its fullest capability. This shift challenges how people have conducted their work overtime by changing departmental autonomy and pushing back on established cultural norms. Resistance is often less about the technology itself and more about what the change means for people.
Effective sponsors do more than authorize a project. We have seen them create alignment around the vision, communicate the reasons for change, remove organizational barriers, and reinforce priorities throughout the transformation journey. Their role is not simply to support the project team. It is to lead the organization through change and ensure outcomes are met.
What Makes an Effective Sponsor?
A common challenge we find when initiating projects is locating and empowering the correct sponsor or group of sponsors. Often leaders are asked to be sponsors based on title or who controls of the purse strings. In our experience supporting modernization projects, successful sponsorship usually comes from the leaders who are directly invested in the teams impacted by the change. These leaders are credible, hold influence, and are invested in guiding their people through uncertainty and change.
Based on our experiences working across a variety of clients, executive sponsorship is one of the single greatest contributors to successful change outcomes. When we work with sponsors, we support leaders in executing on the following key responsibilities:
Participating actively and visibly. Employees need to see leaders consistently supporting the initiative, not just at kickoff. Employees look to leaders to determine whether a change is truly important. They pay attention to where leaders spend their time, what they discuss in meetings, and what they prioritize when competing initiatives arise.
Building a coalition of support. Large-scale transformations require alignment across departments, divisions, and leadership teams. Sponsors are willing and able to foster these relationships, exercise persuasion, and model the behaviors they want to see across their leadership team.
Communicating directly with employees. People want to hear why a change is happening and what it means to them from leaders they trust. When leaders consistently communicate the importance of modernization, participate in key milestones, and ask questions about adoption, employees recognize that the change is important.
Removing organizational barriers. Sponsors are critical in monitoring project and people-related risks and actively removing barriers. When leaders are invested in project success and listen to the needs of their teams, the outcomes are more likely to be achieved.
In addition to the above, we argue that successful sponsors share common characteristics. They are trusted by employees, communicate authentically, lead change decisively, exercise empathy, foster inclusion, and demonstrate a genuine commitment to the future state. And the most impactful role they have is challenging legacy workflows and institutional bias. Sponsors on my projects spend time shifting their people's mindset from "How we have always done it" to "How can we do it differently."
How Change Management Supports Sponsors
Most sponsors are balancing the demands of running an institution while overseeing multiple strategic priorities. They understand the importance of modernization but may not have experience leading a large-scale organizational change effort. This is where change management becomes a critical partner.
In our role as a Change Management Specialist, we help sponsors and leaders effectively lead and manage change. When stakeholders need a strong vision of their future, we help sponsors create it. When lack of clarity exists, we equip sponsors with appropriate messaging to create stakeholder alignment. When resistance manifests, we develop strategies that guide sponsors on how to actively listen, acknowledge, and resolve these issues. And most importantly, we provide structure, guidance, and coaching that helps leaders focus their time and attention where it matters most.
We have had the privilege to serve on a variety of projects, big and small, across a diverse range of higher education institutions. All these experiences have given us time to reflect on what truly matters in effective sponsorship and how Ellucian's Change Management Specialists can support customers. By partnering closely with leaders, internal stakeholders, campus communities, and our internal Ellucian implementation team we are equipped to help sponsors:
- Understand their role throughout the transformation
- Develop clear and consistent messaging
- Identify and address stakeholder concerns
- Monitor adoption risks
- Prepare for resistance and difficult conversations
- Build sponsorship plans aligned to project milestones
- Reinforce desired behaviors after go-live
Across SaaS modernization projects, Ellucian's Change Management Specialists serve as strategic advisors to sponsors. Sponsors bring organizational influence and decision-making authority. Change Management Specialists bring the tools, strategies, and insights needed to turn that influence into successful adoption. Together, we create the conditions necessary for sustainable change.
Effective Sponsorship Drives People Success
People are at the heart of any successful change. The projects that include people, ask the right questions, invest in support and enablement, and drive institutional outcomes are the projects where strong sponsors are leading alongside their people.
In our experience, the most successful SaaS modernization projects have sponsors who are intentional about guiding their institutions through change. They are also backed by Ellucian's Change Management team. Explore how Ellucian's Change Management can serve your leaders and help your institution realize the transformation value of technology.
